The 25th Team Challenge Comes To a Close!

Thursday night, June 25th we celebrated the finale of the 25th Team Challenge in the 25th year of business and gave prizes away for our #25things contest!  It truly was a silver celebration! 

Every Team Challenge ends with a finale looking back on the accomplishments of our participants. This Challenge was all about CHANGE, the cycle of change and just how we go about making change permanent.  We spent ten weeks learning and growing as we took action to lose weight and change our lives. It was epic.

Besides giving away awards and prize money, we spent time Thursday talking about the very last stage of change, TERMINATION.  Some experts don't consider termination as one of the stages, believing that change is ongoing. Others believe that you can terminate from the cycle of change permanently without temptations. Termination can be defined as being FREE from a long-standing problem. There are two camps on this issue, I tend to think that both are right.

I've known people that have terminated from issues in their lives and completely changed their self-images. I've also walked along side many more, that live a life thriving in the active and maintenance stages of change, never terminating. Recovered or recovering...both require strong and positive thought lives! We are all about that at The Healthy Weigh!

To close out this CHANGE Team Challenge, we announced our 20, 30, 40, and 50 pound winners, we passed out lots of special awards and then we gave the big prize money to the top three teams!

Our Winning Teams:

1. Team "Skinny Minnies" Annette and Diane with a 18.33% of weight loss!

2. Team "Losin It" Beulah and Kyla with a 17.89 % of weight loss!

3. Team "Dad and Daughter Duo" Frank and Melanie with a 15.91% of weight loss!

Congratulations to these top teams and to so many more who had outstanding weight loss over the last ten weeks! It has been awesome to be a part of this group of self changers! Our total weight loss for ten weeks was 2,723 pounds!!!

Some individual awards:

Male with the greatest weight loss  Frank E. with 57.8 pounds!

Female with the greatest weight loss  Beulah F with 35.8 pounds!

Male with the greatest % of weight loss  Reuben D. with 18.61% of weight loss

Female with the greatest % of weight loss  Beulah F. 19.76! ( You are a rock star)

Our last HEART award of the challenge for the greatest weight loss % of the week went appropriately to Frank E. Congrats Frank!!!

Closing out a Team Challenges is always bitter sweet for me.  By week ten, I've fallen in love with the group. I've gotten to know so many of them better and learned more about their stories.  I've share my heart with them as well.  Saying goodbye isn't the easiest! This group was really special and I'll miss them.

I look forward to seeing old and new friends in the next couple of weeks when I begin the summer Team Challenge "Live Your Best Life."  We are going to spend time this summer writing our stories...writing new stories full of hope and health and life!!  I'm excited! 

So it's time to say farewell to the Spring Team Challenge 2015. All the best to all of you. Keep on changing!  Hope to see most of you this summer as we journey on together. 

Always encouraging you,

Letha  

Change - FINAL Team Standings

Team Name	%
Skinny Minnies	18.33%
Losin It	17.89%
Dad and Daughter Duo	15.91%
Mission Slimpossible	14.59%
Tiny Hinys	14.55%
The Meltaways	13.56%
RT	13.30%
PTFC	12.44%
The Weigh Out	12.32%
We're Not Gonna Bake It!	12.09%
C & C	11.54%
Freakin' Awesome	11.52%
All About That Pace	10.92%
SWAGG	10.73%
Phileigh	10.73%
Big Sisters 2 Littler Sisters	10.57%
One Fish Two Fish Green Beans & Tuna Fish	10.39%
K's New Weighs	10.32%
Perfect 10	10.25%
Cruisin' For Losin'	9.93%
The Right Rhoade	9.44%
Lighten Up	9.21%
Waist A-Weigh	9.14%
One Last Time	9.08%
Maui Wowies	9.04%
Sisters-In-Loss	9.01%
In It To Lose It	8.97%
Slim Sista's By Summer	8.96%
Muffin Top Stoppers	8.81%
We Got This	8.78%
Silver Foxes	8.76%
We're Not Short, We're Fun Size	8.74%
Razmo	8.64%
The Last Resort	8.26%
Spring Chickens	8.18%
A-weigh We Go	8.13%
Young and Retired	8.03%
Eating Green for Waist Reduction	7.94%
Material Girls	7.94%
TNT	7.78%
The Two BB's	7.73%
Yes, Dear	7.63%
Keep The Change	7.37%
The Lean Queens	7.34%
Double Trouble II	6.98%
Dump Your Rump	6.89%
Down Sizing	6.76%
The Slimming Stewarts	6.72%
Hey Lady, you forgot your CHANGE	6.45%
The Woodland Bottoms	6.07%
Sink Or Thin	6.04%
Down a Cup Size By June	5.99%
Salt N' Pepa	5.98%
Nimble Neighbors	5.94%
Profilers	5.89%
Waist Line Winners	5.80%
A Million Bucks	5.64%
Going, Going, Gone	5.44%
D.I.E.T?	5.41%
Changing Our Weighs	5.40%
Down Sizers	5.25%
Hips Ahoy	5.20%
W.A.R.	5.19%
39 vs 60	5.15%
Older and Somewhat Wiser	5.12%
Spicy Seniors	4.97%
Less of Us	4.92%
Weigh too Healthy	4.78%
Live To Hunt, Hunt To Live	4.55%
Ever Changing	4.37%
Down Sizing, We're Down	4.17%
Choose to Lose	4.16%
Bold Resolve	3.75%
Miller Lite	3.71%
Move It To Lose It	3.64%
Team Rolling Back Time … Again	3.60%
Waist Not, Want Not	3.48%
Fully Focused	3.40%
Dwindling Divas	3.37%
Weight, We're A Changin'	3.23%
She Who Stuffs, Puffs	3.10%
Deflating the Spare	3.08%
Dunne Wright	3.00%
Belly Busters	2.50%
Number Munchers	2.41%
Pie Hole Patrol	2.29%
Thinsanity	2.11%
Keep Calm and Bring it On	1.86%
Hiking Honey's	1.71%
Guts for Glory	1.22%
Secret Ninjas are back!	1.10%
Another Pound Bites the Dust	0.91%
Off With The Old	0.31%
10 Weeks to Life	0.11%
Under Construction: Building Extraordinary From The Inside Out	-0.40%

The Summer Team Challenge Theme Has Been Announced!

If you are an inactive person who weighs 200 pounds, every nutritional label in America is written for you! If not...they aren't!

This week at the Team Challenge I spent some time with my Healthy Weigh friends who are close to reaching their goal weight and are now learning what it takes to stay there. I'll be walking them through a process of stabilization; a 6 week process where you increase your calories week by week until you reach your calorie limit based on your goal weight.  Some clients will be very close to goal at the end of this Spring Team Challenge, others will keep at the weight loss phase of the program.

I wanted to shed a little light this week on what life after the weight loss phase looks like...stabilization and maintenance.

Being highly effective people, we began with the end in mind, in this case goal weight. Each client wrote down their ideal maintenance weight and then calculated their approximate calorie intake for that weight based on this chart.

Multiply your ideal maintenance weight by:

10 if you are inactive (sitting most of the day, no regular physical exercise)

11 if you are moderately active (sitting most of the day but do engage in physical exercise regularly or at least 3 to 4 times per week for 1/2 hour or more)

12 if you are active (standing and/ or walking most of the day and engage in regular physical exercise)

13 if you are very active (walking or involved in strenuous physical labor most of the day and engage in regular physical exercise)

That number is your approximate total calories to maintain your goal weight.

I know that there are many more complicated ways to estimate and discover your appropriate calorie intake for your goal weight...the truth is, you will find the same answer at the end of every story problem. I've done them!

So, we  did the math and found our number.

We have fifteen or more men in our group. Only a few of them will be able to eat 2000 calories to maintain their weight. Everyone else in the room will range from 1250 calories to 1800. So why does every nutritional label in America say..."Based on a 2000 diet."? Good question! The only people that can and should be eating 2000 calories per day are men weighing close to 200 pounds, or a woman who weighs 155 and works in a job performing physical labor all day and then drops by the club to work out on the way home!

I've spent over 30 years helping people lose weight. I am proud to say that I administer one of the greatest weight loss programs available any where...but losing weight has never been the hard part. People knuckle down, eat less, move more, and then lose weight.

Keeping if off for life is the struggle. I believe that our nutritional labels aren't helping matters. It would make sense that most people in America would believe that they should eat 2000 calories...right? It says that on the back of every food label everywhere!!!

I read an article the other day in search of an answer to this problem. It said that 2000 calories per day was used as a standard because that is how many calories it would take to maintain the average American. Wow, how sad is that? What if our labels said "Based on a 1500 calorie diet?" What would the average American look like then?

I am a 120 pound 56 year old woman. I exercise 3 to 4 times a week for 1/2 or more. My maintenance calories are 1320. That's it...no more. No matter what a label says, I am responsible for consuming the amount of healthy calories that my body needs to maintain this healthy weight.

Do the math. Accept the truth. Be responsible. Reach your goal weight and keep it off for life...eating just the amount of calories that YOU need to maintain your ideal maintenance weight!

We took a serious look into the maintenance life of our clients this week but then we looked a little short term to the Summer Team Challenge!  I announced today the theme of our next challenge. "Live Your Best Life!" I've been inspired in the last few years by a couple of books by Donald Miller. They have inspire me to live a better story.  My hope is that I will be able to encourage that same kind of inspiration in the weeks of summer 2015! I'm excited!!

Our winners of the week:
Noon: Team "Tiny Hinys" Janie and Abbie with a 2.42% of weight loss.
6PM: Team "Dad & Daughter Duo" Frank and Melanie with a 2.76% of weight loss for the week!

Our Heart winner of the week: Mikaela S. with a 2.90% weight loss for the week! Congratulations to you all!

Your Challenge for the week:
Lose 2.0 pounds for the week to be entered into a drawing for a FREE Summer Team Challenge. (two winners)
Enroll in the Summer Team Challenge!

Next week is the final week as we turn in our #25sheets!  It's been a fun 10 weeks watching you all get active and stay active! You've hiked, boated, rode horses, walked and played! It's been awesome!

I'm look so forward to the Finale of this Spring Team Challenge! Every group takes on it's own personality and this one has tugged at my heart strings! What a great group of people!

Here's to a GREAT finish as we close out this Spring Team Challenge!

Always encouraging you...and hopefully enlightening you too,

Letha

Change - Week 9 Team Standings

Team Name	%
Losin It	15.73%
Dad and Daughter Duo	13.97%
Tiny Hinys	13.29%
Skinny Minnies	13.21%
Mission Slimpossible	13.02%
RT	12.59%
The Meltaways	11.81%
The Weigh Out	11.23%
We're Not Gonna Bake It!	11.07%
PTFC	11.00%
C & C	10.74%
SWAGG	10.73%
All About That Pace	10.73%
Perfect 10	9.92%
Phileigh	9.89%
One Fish Two Fish Green Beans & Tuna Fish	9.74%
Freakin' Awesome	9.70%
In It To Lose It	9.63%
The Right Rhoade	9.54%
Big Sisters 2 Littler Sisters	9.42%
Cruisin' For Losin'	9.40%
K's New Weighs	9.34%
Lighten Up	9.21%
Slim Sista's By Summer	8.64%
We Got This	8.50%
Silver Foxes	8.22%
Muffin Top Stoppers	8.18%
We're Not Short, We're Fun Size	8.15%
One Last Time	8.12%
Young and Retired	8.03%
TNT	7.94%
Eating Green for Waist Reduction	7.94%
Razmo	7.84%
Waist A-Weigh	7.77%
Sisters-In-Loss	7.58%
Material Girls	7.49%
Maui Wowies	7.35%
The Last Resort	7.24%
A-weigh We Go	7.24%
Down Sizing	7.15%
The Two BB's	7.10%
The Lean Queens	7.05%
Double Trouble II	6.98%
Dump Your Rump	6.89%
Hey Lady, you forgot your CHANGE	6.45%
Sink Or Thin	6.42%
Spring Chickens	6.33%
Yes, Dear	6.24%
The Slimming Stewarts	6.19%
Keep The Change	6.13%
The Woodland Bottoms	5.96%
Nimble Neighbors	5.94%
Waist Line Winners	5.80%
A Million Bucks	5.64%
Down a Cup Size By June	5.57%
Down Sizers	5.52%
Going, Going, Gone	5.44%
Hips Ahoy	5.40%
Profilers	5.38%
39 vs 60	5.15%
Changing Our Weighs	5.11%
Salt N' Pepa	5.00%
Less of Us	4.92%
Weigh too Healthy	4.78%
Spicy Seniors	4.61%
Live To Hunt, Hunt To Live	4.55%
W.A.R.	4.53%
Ever Changing	4.37%
Choose to Lose	4.25%
Older and Somewhat Wiser	3.92%
Bold Resolve	3.75%
D.I.E.T?	3.73%
Miller Lite	3.71%
Move It To Lose It	3.64%
Team Rolling Back Time … Again	3.60%
Down Sizing, We're Down	3.54%
Waist Not, Want Not	3.48%
Fully Focused	3.40%
Dwindling Divas	3.31%
She Who Stuffs, Puffs	3.10%
Dunne Wright	3.00%
Deflating the Spare	2.68%
Belly Busters	2.50%
Weight, We're A Changin'	2.44%
Number Munchers	2.41%
Pie Hole Patrol	2.29%
Thinsanity	2.11%
Keep Calm and Bring it On	1.86%
Hiking Honey's	1.71%
Secret Ninjas are back!	1.10%
Another Pound Bites the Dust	0.91%
Guts for Glory	0.80%
Off With The Old	0.31%
10 Weeks to Life	0.11%
Under Construction: Building Extraordinary From The Inside Out	-0.95%

Change - Week 8 Team Standings

Team Name	%
Losin It	14.34%
Skinny Minnies	12.04%
Dad and Daughter Duo	11.54%
Tiny Hinys	11.16%
RT	10.84%
The Meltaways	10.63%
All About That Pace	10.25%
SWAGG	10.03%
PTFC	9.95%
The Weigh Out	9.82%
Phileigh	9.68%
We're Not Gonna Bake It!	9.43%
C & C	9.35%
Mission Slimpossible	9.29%
Lighten Up	9.21%
In It To Lose It	9.15%
The Right Rhoade	9.11%
Perfect 10	8.93%
One Fish Two Fish Green Beans & Tuna Fish	8.76%
Big Sisters 2 Littler Sisters	8.60%
Freakin' Awesome	8.51%
K's New Weighs	8.38%
Cruisin' For Losin'	8.29%
We're Not Short, We're Fun Size	8.17%
Slim Sista's By Summer	8.16%
Young and Retired	8.03%
Razmo	7.88%
Muffin Top Stoppers	7.81%
We Got This	7.62%
Waist A-Weigh	7.61%
Material Girls	7.38%
Silver Foxes	7.30%
Eating Green for Waist Reduction	7.28%
A-weigh We Go	7.24%
Sisters-In-Loss	7.20%
Hey Lady, you forgot your CHANGE	7.05%
Down Sizing	6.99%
Double Trouble II	6.98%
Dump Your Rump	6.89%
The Two BB's	6.87%
Keep The Change	6.87%
One Last Time	6.82%
The Lean Queens	6.49%
The Last Resort	6.47%
The Slimming Stewarts	6.45%
Sink Or Thin	6.42%
TNT	6.35%
Spring Chickens	6.33%
Yes, Dear	6.24%
Maui Wowies	6.19%
Nimble Neighbors	5.94%
The Woodland Bottoms	5.90%
Waist Line Winners	5.80%
A Million Bucks	5.64%
Hips Ahoy	5.59%
Down Sizers	5.52%
Going, Going, Gone	5.44%
Salt N' Pepa	5.23%
39 vs 60	5.15%
Changing Our Weighs	5.06%
Profilers	5.02%
W.A.R.	4.92%
Weigh too Healthy	4.78%
Down a Cup Size By June	4.62%
Less of Us	4.60%
Spicy Seniors	4.56%
Live To Hunt, Hunt To Live	4.55%
Choose to Lose	4.41%
Ever Changing	4.37%
Move It To Lose It	3.87%
Bold Resolve	3.75%
D.I.E.T?	3.73%
Team Rolling Back Time … Again	3.60%
Waist Not, Want Not	3.48%
Older and Somewhat Wiser	3.42%
Fully Focused	3.40%
Miller Lite	3.30%
She Who Stuffs, Puffs	3.10%
Dunne Wright	3.00%
Down Sizing, We're Down	2.93%
Dwindling Divas	2.81%
Deflating the Spare	2.74%
Pie Hole Patrol	2.68%
Belly Busters	2.50%
Number Munchers	2.41%
Weight, We're A Changin'	2.23%
Thinsanity	2.11%
Keep Calm and Bring it On	1.86%
Hiking Honey's	1.71%
10 Weeks to Life	1.47%
Secret Ninjas are back!	1.10%
Under Construction: Building Extraordinary From The Inside Out	0.98%
Guts for Glory	0.76%
Off With The Old	0.31%
Another Pound Bites the Dust	0.31%

Happy Anniversary Healthy Weigh!

We not only celebrated Healthy Weigh's 25th Anniversary today by giving out 25 prizes...at noon and again at 6, but we celebrated by moving into the next stage of change...Maintenance.

We've had some powerful weeks focusing on the stages of change and here‘s what we’ve learned.

The stages of change need to happen…no matter what kind of change you’re making.

These stages can be represented as a cycle, and it’s mostly suggested that people go through these stages in sequence.  But In reality, people can jump about between stages, go backward and forward, and even be in more than one stage at a time.

The maintenance phase of the Stage of Change involves successfully avoiding former behaviors and keeping up new behaviors. Sustained change…that’s what maintenance is all about!!!

People in the Maintenance Phase constantly reformulate the rules of their lives and are acquiring new skills to deal with life and avoid relapse. They are able to anticipate the situations in which a relapse could occur and prepare coping strategies in advance.

During this stage, people become more assured that they will be able to continue their change.  

Change never ends with  the action stage. Without a strong commitment to maintenance, there will surely be relapse, usually to pre-contemplation or contemplation stage.

When I think about all I’ve taught about change in the last 8 weeks, I've covered a lot.  But if I wanted to make sure I’d given you what I felt was possibly the most important information…especially to stay in the maintenance stage of change it’d be this…

You are what you think!

Your thought life will be be the number one key to you losing your weight and keeping it off for life.

I have observed in the last 34 years in the weight loss business that the quality of peoples thinking leads to the quality of their results.

Poor thinking produces negative progress.

Average thinking produces no progress.

Good thinking produces some progress.

Great thinking produces great progress.

Good thoughts and action can never produce bad results and bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results.

Our thoughts dictate our feelings and our feelings dictate our actions every time!

The question I asked on this 8th week of the Spring Team Challenge was..."Is my desire for success and to improve my life strong enough to prompt me to change my thinking?"

If the answer is yes then these are some practicals ways to start to change your thinking for good!

1. Expose your self to good input

2. Expose yourself to good thinkers

3. Choose to think good thoughts

4. Act on your good thoughts

5. Allow you emotions to create another good thought

If you want to remain in the maintenance stage of change and look back in 6 months with 40, 50, 60 or more pounds off…your thought life MUST be strong, powerful and positive.

You ARE what you think!!!

Our winners for the week: 
Noon: Team "C & C" Cameron and Christina with a 1.46% of weight loss for the week!
6PM: Team "All About That Pace" Colton and Mikaela with a 1.93% of weight loss for the week!

Out HEART winner for the week was Kyla T. with a 2.92% of weight loss for the week!  Great job Kyla!

Your challenge for the week:

• Download week # 5 "Exercise  and Weight Loss ~ It's a Math Problem" and do the homework provided.
• Make a list of your Board of Directors or your Dream Team!!

Just a reminder...Glenda B. and my Husband Barry, will be sponsoring the winning teams next week!  $100 will go to each winning Team of the week!  Just an FYI, it might be the week to WIN!!! :-)

You are what you think...You have control over your thoughts...your thoughts dictate your actions! Today was a day of GOOD news at The Healthy Weigh!!!  

Always encouraging you,

Letha